Redistricting committee approves House plan

By a vote of 11 to 5, the House Redistricting Committee approved a plan redrawing the Texas House map that, according to its sponsor, committee chairman Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, creates a total of 30 minority opportunity districts.

The committee rejected several amendments offered by the four Democrats on the committee, who contended that the Solomons plan, House Bill 150, does not properly reflect the growth in the state’s Latino population during the past decade. Latino growth made up 65 percent of the 4.3 million overall population increase in Texas since 2000.

“The plan passed out of committee today splits communities of interest and denies proper representation to people of color – but particularly Hispanics – who drove the population growth in Texas for the past decade,” said state Rep. Robert Alonzo, a Democratic member of the committee from Dallas.

In addition to the four Democrats on the committee, state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, voted against the bill.

State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, one of the four, objected to the speed with which the Solomons plan was adopted. She said the fast track didn’t allow the committee time to consider the changes made to the bill during today’s committee meeting.

She also opposed reducing Harris County districts from 25 to 24, ostensibly because the county’s population growth was not enough to warrant a 25th seat. Alvarado argued that the county grew by 20.3 percent from 2000 to 2010, a rate that’s close to the 20.7 percent growth from 1990 to 2000 that justified a map with 25 districts.

“I think Harris County needs to stand strong and united to maintain 25 seats,” she said. “Dallas is going to lose two seats, but that’s different, because their population left the county. Here’s what’s important: Our county didn’t lose population, it just shifted from the east to the west.”

Under the Solomons plan, state Reps. Scott Hochberg and Hubert Vo, both Houston Democrats, are paired, meaning they will have to run against each other or move into another district.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, accused his fellow Republicans of ramming through a plan that maximized Republican political gains at the expense of Harris County’s interests. “Unfortunately, partisanship has reared its head early,” he said.

Coleman is not a member of the redistricting committee, but he said he drew a map that easily accommodated a 25-member district for Harris County. The committee ignored it, he said.

State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, a committee member, insisted that the main reason for the 24-district plan for Harris County was demographic, not political. “Their population called for a little over 24-plus districts,” he said, “so under the census data they didn’t merit an additional district.”

The GOP enjoys a 101-49 super-majority in the state House. But numerous Republican House members will be pitted against each other in areas where the population is shrinking.

Branch, who noted that his own county would lose two seats under the Solomons plan, said that politics was not the primary impetus for the Harris County plan, “as far as I’m concerned.”

House Bill 150 now goes to the full House, where it can still be amended.

“This is not a stagnant bill,” Solomons said. “It’s going to be scrutinized, amendments added. It’s not the final vote.”